MAIN QUEST LINE:
Climbing Khenarthi's Breath
Lucius explains the Blades have reformed in earnest following the breaking of the White-Gold Concordat. "The value of spies in wartime cannot be underestimated". Before the player leaves the Blades hideout, Dra'zanji proffers a purse containing small, fine crystals: an exceptionally pure form of Moon Sugar offered to the Clan Mothers in tribute, and said only to form when the third moon shines in the night sky. It has even greater euphoric properties than regular Sugar (to Khajiit, its effects are the closest they can get to Lles'wer as physically possible), but with less of the deleterious side effects, meaning even non-Khajiit can consume it in small doses without the associated seizures and schizophrenia. This is how Dra'zanji over time was able to commune with the Mane.
The player asks why she trusts him/her not to sell the Sugar: Dra'zanji believes providence is behind their meeting. The Mane said an outsider would appear before her in a time of war and protect her as his Ri-zeri (Exalted Force). The player decides whether she stays with the Blades, or comes as a companion (refer Companions).
Either way, Dra'zanji asks the player to consume one crystal in a safe place. Once the player does so, the world of Mundus seems to melt. The player enters a communion with Dra'zanji and the Mane, apparently on the surface of Masser. Whether this is the effect of powerful drug trip or the player has been somehow transported to the Moons, is difficult to say. The Mane's gender is also difficult to ascertain, with male and female vocal tracks and a blurry astral form.
The Mane addresses the one deemed Ri-zeri. During the ancient time of the First Era, the Mane's country was not comprised of two kingdoms, but sixteen, who, intimately understanding the need for trade and establishing symbiotic relationships with the other kingdoms, enjoyed a thousand years of great prosperity before Men had even learned to write. This was undone by the Thrassian Plague, but not before Azurah, via the Mane, had blessed the royal bloodline of each kingdom. Those bloodlines were the anointed who would help the Mane lead the Khajiit to climb Khenarthi's breath and set right the moons should they ever fail. This ancient information, retained within the bloodline of only a few select individuals, is hidden from the Thalmor.
Having vanished, Jone and Jode were returned incompletely by the Altmer, as they no longer align in the way required to reincarnate the Mane in Nirn. This is why the Sugar has lost its sweetness. The Khajiit reconnection to the Ja-kha'jay is still in some way incomplete. The Ri-zeri must bring the descendants of those sixteen bloodlines to the Mane, so they can gorge of the Sugar, and together climb Khenarthi's breath.
The Mane emphasizes that these descendants will likely need to be convinced. The Void Nights was a time of existential despair in Elsweyr. Khajiit stillborn, or born with crippling deformities. The religious bedrock of the Mane and the Clan Mothers nowhere to be seen. Two years of anguish and barbarism. Then, the Thalmor claimed credit for the moons' return. It was easy to see how power would shift toward the Dominion and away from their customs. The Mane has become despised or forgotten in Elsweyr. Few would hail his return.
This exchange begins the quest “Climbing Khenarthi's Breath”, with sixteen sub quests that represent the royal descendants of the sixteen kingdoms of old. As the player completes the quests, the Mane will perceive a clearer image of the descendants' locations and disseminate new quests.